Five Tips to Help Small Businesses Maximize Holiday Sales
The holiday season is a crucial time for small businesses, and leveraging digital tools and technology can significantly enhance their operations and customer engagement. The Connected Commerce Council (3C) released five tips to help small businesses prepare for the busy 2023 holiday season and maximize their sales.
3C’s five tips for a successful holiday season:
1. Sell online
Americans spent over $200 billion shopping online last holiday season. Selling online is an easy way to get your products in front of millions of shoppers and expand your reach beyond wholesale or brick-and-mortar stores. Selling on online marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, and Etsy helps create brand exposure and awareness for small businesses and offers time-pressed shoppers an efficient way to find and purchase your products. Be sure to choose the right marketplace and meet your target customers where they shop. If you sell handmade or vintage items, for example, selling on Etsy gets your products in front of millions of consumers shopping for handcrafted gifts.
2. Leverage digital ads
A majority of small businesses agree that digital advertising helps them compete with large companies and attract target audiences better than traditional advertising does. Advertising your business using Google, Amazon, or Instagram’s ad services is a cost-efficient way to help you reach the right audience, build brand awareness, and generate sales. You can run a Google Ads campaign to reach the people most likely to want your product, and Google Analytics provides data and insights into how well your ads work, helping you constantly improve your results.
3. Be different
Any business owner will tell you it’s vital to set yourself apart from the competition. A thoughtfully composed holiday gift set or the promise of fast, free shipping may be the reason a shopper chooses to purchase from you rather than your competitor. Check out Mainely Coffee’s gift box and Sara Sew’s personalized holiday gifts for inspiration on how to stand out from the crowd this holiday season.
4. Enhance customer support with chatbots
Implement chatbots on your website to provide immediate assistance to customers using AI technology. Chatbots can help answer frequently asked questions, guide customers through the purchasing process, and provide support outside of regular business hours. Tools like Drift or Intercom offer user-friendly chatbot solutions to help small businesses with customer support.
5. Look for areas where you can improve
Small businesses must constantly look for ways to increase efficiency. Digital training courses from 3C University help small businesses learn how to best sell online, reach more customers, and grow their business.
